The answer
by KaiSaeren
Summary: It just didn't feel right letting her leave like that. He might not have the answer, but he knew that giving up like that wasn't going to solve anything, he did not want her to leave.


**Please do not judge me for this ^^I just felt very sorry for Nagato and Konan, their story is one of the most touching in the entire series and did not wish her to die. I was also a bit dissapointed Naruto just let her go like that in the manga/anime, it was fairly easy to figure out that Madara or someone from Akatsuki will come after her and eventually kill her :(**

 **Also i very much like Konan and the idea of NaruKonan even tho i know its a bit weird, dunno why :) Hopefully i didnt make this wierd and someone will enjoy it ^^**

The answer

A quet rustle acompanied the fluttering white papers as they encompassed the entire body of the orange haired man, lying on the ground.

"You are taking his body as well?" Naruto asked looking at the mummified remains of the last Pain he had killed.

"Yes...Tendo Pain was created from body of Yahiko" Said the blue haired Kunoichi infront of him, her voice firm and steady. "He is very dear to us," she added in a somewhat quiter voice, her gaze downcast.

 _"Us, huh? She has not accepted Nagato's...departure yet, it is just her now. Naruto thought sadly._

"What will you do now?" He heard himself saying, still deep in thought,"I'd hate to see you return to Akatsuki, people like you and Nagato do not belong there."

"I am done with Akatsuki." Rang the answer and Naruto felt ease spread through his body. "Nagato and Yahiko meant everything to me. They have passed on their dreams to you, you now embody all of our dreams. The ones we had when we were young and the ones we have now. Nagato has put his faith in you, and so will I. The Amegakure will pursue their dreams with you and will stand beside Konoha in the war to come."

A flick of pain shot through Naruto's heart at her words and suddenly he couldn't meet her gaze.

 _"Nagato and Yahiko were all she had. And I took it away from her."_

Thoughts were racing in Naruto's mind, some of them trying to placate him, explaining and reasoning that he had no reason to feel sad for Konan or Nagato. While their story was tragic and Nagato certainly was not a bad person, they both got lost and he only showed them the way back to light, the best he could. But others were tearing at him, feeding his ever growing sense of sadness and guilt for essentially ending a life of a person who knew so much pain in his lifetime a life of a person who deserved better. He always felt sad when someone he knew died, but this lesson with Nagato would be hardest for him to learn and bear. In the end he did not hate Nagato, he understood and forgave him and he did not wish him dead.

But in the swirl of his thoughts in the background of his mind one thought was becoming louder, more vivid and clear. The realization that came with it was painful and the guilt from it was already beginning to crush him.

She was giving up. He assumed that there are still things for her to do, before her time comes, but having no one and nothing else to live for, is as good as being dead already. Her dreams died with her friends and their dreams were passed onto him. Her death will be on his conscience.

"I carry all of your dreams? It sounds like you are giving up." He whispered.

She didn't answer, her face stoic and calm as it always was. Then, she had extended her hand and from nowhere, dozens of angel white papers fluttered into existence, to form a bouquet of origami flowers. Marvelously beautiful, but lifeless.

"I can only pray that you will be the blossom of hope for the future, that will never wilt." Konan said offering the flower to him.

Everyone, every single person has a soft side. No matter how distanced, how emotionless their face might seem, no matter how empty their heart feels, no matter how much they subconsciously try to cut their souls from the life they live. They are human beings and they are only truly lost when there is no fight left in them, when they they have not only given up on themselves, but on everything and everyone around them.

That is what Naruto believed. And looking into the amber eyes of the blue haired Akatsuki member, he knew she was not that person.

Unwillingly he put his hand up and took the flower, his hand brushing slightly against hers.

She nodded and turned to leave.

"Don't go!" He exclaimed.

Konan turned back and looked at the confused and slightly surprised blonde.

He opened and closed his mouth several times and made half a step forward only to stop himself immediately. Konan's eyebrow shot up in curiosity when he looked squarely down at the ground and clenched his fists. Several moments passed with both of them being quiet.

"Yes?" Konan said becoming a little impatient.

"If you go-," he muttered,"if you go, we both know what will happen."

She kept quiet.

"Madara will come for you, you will have betrayed his organisation and this will not stand. He will come for Nagato's eyes and you will have to fight him. There is no need to sacrifice yourself like that. Let me help you! I will help you bury them, hide them and I will help you protect them as well. I-I have no idea how much you must be hurting now, but your journey does not have to be over. I will help you carry on their legacy and help you find a new reason to live, I will help you spread the peace and see the world reach it as was once your goal."

"Just let me. Let me help you, please! This is not over, remember how you were when you were young, kids, with Yahiko and Nagato, remember Jiraiya-sensei, do not give up." He added almost desperately.

Konan was never fond of too many words, to her mind, words were an incredibly powerful tool, one that she never could use to her advantage much, but learned to ignore. True feelings can and should be expressed without words, they just steal away the precious moment. All of the most beautiful, most terrifying, most life-changing moments, were after all. Words... the inexplicable thing that had always caused her to doubt, herself, Nagato, their shared dream, caused her to doubt that her actions are justified. How something so beautiful, that could express the innermost feelings of love between two individuals, could also be the reason behind a war, that claims millions of lives. All the truthful cries of suffering and begging for mercy, all the honeyed lies, all the heart-felt confessions, she had never understood them, and always did all she could to stand against the veritable tide of emotions, that followed in wake of those well worded sentences. Words have power, power to change minds, to change hearts, to change the world, she never wanted to believe it, but this time it was different, as it turns out, it greatly depends on who is saying those right words.

The first thing she had felt was an attempt at indifference, her mind went blank for a moment, almost blocking his words. Than she realized, as she slowly processed the words that were still coming to her at snails pace, that he was sincere, desperate even, to make her stay.

Ever since Yahiko's death, she decided to cutherself from the world, to prevent being hurt and broken further. Over the years slowly she had worked through the pain and stored it deep within, she had reasoned with herself and came to the same conclusion that Nagato came to. Organizing everything inside her mind to reflect her new position in life and the path that they set upon, she chose to ignore the tugging and her inside screams as she killed and tortured countless people in the name of ending the pain of the world itself. Sometimes even in her calm and calculative mind she could not find the start and end of it all, what was she doing, how was her pain justifing what they have done. How was this helping. But she drowned any thoughts that did not fit on their path with the pain she felt when Yahiko was lost to her, all the screams of the people, all their pleads, all of their pain was nothing in front of her own and so she got by, slowly cutting all that she was out of existence. The only strand for good or bad, was Nagato.

Her thoughts, even in the most distressing times were organized and calm but not now. As never before flashes, voices and feelings were making ruckus inside of her head. At the same time, thinking that she did not deserve the kindes the blonde prodigy was showing her and hating him with all her heart for taking the last thing that made her, her. But was she herself? For how long has she denied the feelings that the outside world was meant to invoke in her, so shut down into herself for so long, she almost longed to be hurt again, just to feel alive. Confused, hurt, angry, decided and infinitely unsure of everything at the same time. White spots dancing in front of her eyes, growing nauseous trying to comprehend and sort everything happening inside her into the neat piles of feelings that could be easily ignored and and left alone so she could go back to feeling nothing.

Seeing her quietly struggle, he spoke again.

"Life is complicated and people even more so. Maybe I do not have the answer to peace yet, but I do know that we all search for it in our own way. Everyone in the world have precious people, everyone wishes for happiness and safety for themselves and those precious people. It's what makes world tick. There is always someone out there who needs help, who needs you, precisely you to keep hoping, to keep fighting, to keep believing in the future, continue on the way to their dreams. Maybe I do not know exactly what the answer to peace is, but I know what it isn't... giving up."

"Anyone can tell themselves, this is it for me, I have nothing more to give, I can die. But that is thinking selfishly, that is only giving up and taking the easy way out. When they give up and their light goes out, another person somewhere will lost heir reason to believe. What if the answer that we are all looking for is us. What if they are the ones who can finally turn things around. What if, if they just try, what if they do not give up just yet, what if that will save the world. What if the key to peace is to strive for it not just for yourself, not just for the people you love, but for everyone out there. For all the people who don't know what to do, for all those who feel lost, for all those of are on the verge of giving up, because they feel like they can't go on."

"What if it is you, the one who will stand up, against all odds succeed. This is not the end of your life, it is a new chance, there is a big world out here and you have a chance to change it. Will you take it?"

"I will need you if I am to show this world true peace. And I will do my damnedest to give you a new reason to believe." Desperate to reach her now, he took a few steps forward and put a hand on her right arm, causing her to look up.

Konan's face, emotionless as it was for most of her adult years, was not used to the tugging sensation she felt as her eyebrows knit together, her nose wrinkled upwards and the corners of her mouth tugged in the same direction. Unsure herself, whether she was meant to cry or laugh, overwhelmed by the feelings rushing from her innermost self.

"I-I am broken, Naruto-kun, me, Nagato and oh so many people out there." she half whispered, half yelled at Naruto and no one in particular. Her eyes watering with she, herself not understanding why.

"I have no answer, no help and no feelings to offer to you, my life has ended a long time ago. It can't be as easy as you believe, I have tried not giving up but everything in the entire world seemed against us, pulling the ground from under us at every turn, cutting, slashing and hurting so much that in some time you either die or cut yourself from this hell hole of a world and become a different person a monster with your skin. I want to believe you, I just don't know if I can again, for anyone." A few tears slid down her cheeks through half closed blue eyelids, her entire body shivering.

"I am broken"

"You are beautiful." Naruto stated gently, not moving from his spot.

Konan's body stopped quivering.

"You, Nagato and all the broken people out there, you are beautiful to me, I love broken people. I was one of them and that is why I know, broken people are the kindest."

Konan remembered who she was before...before all this. She remembered how her cheeks felt hot when someone praised, her eagerness to be nice back. She remembered how it felt to see someone smiling and knowing it was her that caused their happiness. A simple hug, friendly word, wave of hand were all so much more deep and meaningful back than, because everything she had done was from heart, was meant to help and reassure. How she had tried to reach all those who seemed down, lost and how she refused to give up...ever.

"Do you really believe this?" She looked up with a desperate look in her eyes, utterly lost. She so wanted to let her features settle in hopeful expression, but she had forgotten how."Do you really believe that you can save the world, make people understand?"

"Me?" Naruto asked with a slight bob of his head sideways. "No. But with you? I believe it with all my heart."

He reached for her right hand opened it finger by finger, placing the bouquet she gave him back into her palm.

Konan's eyes widened in surprise, the origami flowers were now real and blooming.


End file.
